Written Answers Thursday 6 May 2010

Scottish Executive

Climate Change

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spends on energy efficiency initiatives, also broken down by (a) directorate and (b) funds channelled through agencies.

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spends on renewable energy initiatives, also broken down by (a) directorate and (b) funds channelled through agencies.

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spends on energy reduction initiatives, also broken down by (a) directorate and (b) funds channelled through agencies.

Jim Mather: The following table illustrates the expenditure allocated to energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives for financial year 2010-11. For the purposes of our policy and programme objectives, energy efficiency initiatives and energy reduction initiatives are treated as the same thing.

  In addition to the expenditure outlined below, energy efficiency and renewables are supported through a number of other schemes that focus on other policy objectives. It is not possible to accurately estimate the level of energy efficiency and renewables expenditure which such schemes will incur in 2010-11. Similarly, energy efficiency and renewables expenditure by agencies is an operational matter for those agencies.

  

Directorate
Available 2010-11 Expenditure for Energy Efficiency/Reduction Initiatives (£ million)
Available 2010-11 Expenditure for Renewable Energy and Microgeneration Initiatives (£ million)


Energy
12.5
32.4


Housing and Regeneration
70.9*
0


Total
83.4
32.4



  Note: *Includes the Energy Assistance Package’s core budget of £45.9 million, aimed at increasing incomes and reducing fuel bills, as well as improving the energy efficiency of homes.

Climate Change

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) energy reduction, (b) energy efficiency and (c) renewable energy budget reporting requirements it must fulfil under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Jim Mather: Section 94 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act requires an annual carbon assessment of the Scottish Budget, with the Scottish Government producing a report describing the direct and indirect impact on greenhouse gas emissions of its expenditure plans.

  The first such carbon assessment was published alongside the Draft Budget in September 2009, including the impact of both energy efficiency and renewables expenditure.

Enterprise

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs in the renewables and low-carbon sector are expected to be created in the next (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 20 years.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government’s discussion paper, Towards a Low Carbon Economy for Scotland, reported in March that from a baseline of around 70,000 jobs in 2008, the low carbon sector in Scotland could support an additional 60,000 jobs by 2020, of which 26,000 jobs could be created in the renewable energy industry.

  By 2015 it is estimated that almost 32,000 jobs could be created in the low carbon sector, of which around 13,500 jobs could be created in the renewables sector. The remainder of the low carbon jobs are expected to be created in the environmental management and emerging low carbon technologies sectors.

  There are currently no forecasts of the number of jobs that could be created over the next 20 years in Scotland’s low carbon and renewable energy sector.

Enterprise

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates it has regarding the geographical spread of potential future jobs in the renewables and low-carbon sector.

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has regarding the potential impact of jobs in the renewables and low-carbon sector on tackling long-term unemployment.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government has not carried out an assessment of the geographical spread of potential jobs in the renewables and low carbon sector.

Enterprise

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs in the renewables and low-carbon sector expected to be created over the next 20 years will be (a) low, (b) semi and (c) highly skilled.

Jim Mather: Current estimates of the number of jobs which could be created in the renewables and low carbon sector are not broken down by skills level. However, the Scottish Government and its partners are working with industry to identify and address strategically the skills issues arising from the transition to the low carbon economy.

Enterprise

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific measures it has in place, or plans to put in place, to prepare and train unskilled, low skilled and other hard-to-employ groups for employment in the renewables and low-carbon sector.

Jim Mather: Later this spring we will publish a refreshed skills strategy with a renewed focus on the skills needed to support a strong recovery for Scotland as well as longer-term sustainable economic growth.

  This will build on the Skills Framework for Action under the Scottish Government’s Renewables Action Plan, and will be supplemented by the development of our Low Carbon Strategy which highlights the identification, articulation and development of appropriate skills for the low carbon economy as a priority.

Enterprise

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific measures it has in place, or plans to put in place, to assist small businesses to take advantage of future opportunities in the renewables and low-carbon sector.

Jim Mather: The transition to a low carbon economy presents major opportunities for Scotland to develop new industries, skills and jobs, and the Scottish Government works through the enterprise agencies to realise those opportunities.

  For instance, this year, in conjunction with the Crown Estate, we have hosted three very well attended offshore wind supply chain "share fair" events in Scotland. These events highlighted both the range and scale of the market opportunity to Scottish firms associated with the planned expansion of the offshore wind sector.

  In addition, the Scottish Government is developing a Low Carbon Strategy to maximise Scotland’s economic potential in the global low carbon market.

  More generally, The Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust are funded by the Scottish Government to provide energy efficiency advice to all sizes of business. This advice ranges from site surveys to identify where energy savings can be implemented, to training events which raise awareness of the business benefits from introducing low carbon practices in the workplace.

  Through our Energy Saving Scotland small business loans scheme, SMEs can access interest-free loans for a range of energy efficiency and renewables measures, offering business opportunities through mechanisms such as the Feed-in Tariff for electricity generation.

Enterprise

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is undertaking to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to apply for funding for eco-innovation projects under the 2010 Competitiveness and Innovation Programme.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government, through Scotland Europa, has raised awareness of the call for application for funding for eco-innovation projects under the 2010 Competitiveness and Innovation Programme with Scotland Europa members, which include companies, business associations, Universities, local authorities and agencies – Scottish Natural Heritage and, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

  Information has been circulated to Scottish Enterprise account managers and innovation specialists for discussion with client companies.

  Enterprise Europe Scotland has been carrying out general awareness raising activity and responding to company inquiries with briefings on the eligibility criteria, what is funded, mechanics of the programme etc. and are considering further joint promotion with SEPA.

Fisheries

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the take-up to date of the Scottish quota for (a) haddock, (b) whiting, (c) cod, (d) saithe, (e) hake, (f) monkfish and (g) nephrops in the (i) North Sea and (ii) west coast fishing waters and what the result is.

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the potential impact on (a) fish catching, (b) fish processing and (c) ancillary fisheries support businesses of any early closure of white fish and nephrops fisheries due to 2010 quotas running out before the end of the year and what the outcome was.

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to action that it could take to help avoid early closure of white fish and nephrops fisheries due to 2010 quotas running out before the end of the year.

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with fisheries stakeholders on the implications of any early closure of white fish and nephrops fisheries due to 2010 quotas running out before the end of the year and what the outcome was.

Richard Lochhead: Scottish Fish Producer Organisations are responsible for managing the uptake of quotas allocated to them in a way that best suits their members. The Scottish Government monitors their performance.

  The Scottish Government has drawn the attention of the producer organisations and other fisheries stakeholders to the fact that the continuation of fishing activity at its current rate could lead to the early closure of whitefish and nephrops fisheries. On a number of occasions in recent weeks it has discussed with representatives of the fishing industry how fishing opportunities might best be managed in the context of the opportunities available and the uptake to date in terms of both landings and fishing effort.

  The following table notes uptake of available quota on 28 April 2010:

  

 
% Uptake


Stock
North Sea
West of Scotland


Haddock*
34
53


Whiting
49
95


Cod* 
31
58


Saithe
56
53


Hake
51
30


Monkfish
19
58


Nephrops
27
18



  Note: *For West of Scotland Haddock and Cod, figures quoted are for ICES Area Via.

  Consultations with the fishing industry have involved stakeholders from all parts of the country and from each of the industry sectors. They have focussed on a number of points, including ways in which available fishing opportunities can be increased; methods by which the uptake of opportunities can be better rationed over the course of the year, and, ways in which greater flexibility can be introduced into licensing and other regulatory arrangements to provide fishing businesses with greater scope to adapt and grow.

  The government is committed to working closely with the catching sector to help ensure a full year fishery, and will manage the non-sector vessels for which it has direct responsibility to achieve that outcome. It is for producer organisations to assess the consequences for the marketing of their produce of any failure to ensure continuity of supply.

Fisheries

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to the European Commission, HM Government and other EU member states regarding the introduction of EU regulations to allow Scottish fish producer organisations to purchase or lease quotas and days at sea from fishermen in other member states.

Richard Lochhead: European Regulations (Article 20(5) of EC Regulation 2371/2002) already provide for the exchange of fishing opportunities between EU member states, which have traditionally been pursued through international quota swaps. The Scottish Government and Scottish Fish Producer Organisations seek to increase fishing opportunities through the use of these provisions.

Higher Education

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many graduates of the University of (a) Dundee and (b) Abertay have participated in the Graduates for Business programme in the last two years.

Michael Russell: The information requested is not held centrally. This is a matter for Scottish Enterprise.

Higher Education

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of graduates from the University of (a) Dundee and (b) Abertay was in full-time employment (i) six and (ii) 12 months after graduation in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Michael Russell: The following table shows the percentage of qualifiers from the University of Abertay and the University of Dundee who were in full-time employment six months after qualifying. This is based on the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey carried out by higher education institutions and collated by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). This survey is not repeated at 12 months so data for the percentage of qualifiers in full-time employment at that stage is not held centrally.

  Percentage of Qualifiers from Abertay and Dundee in Full-Time Employment after Six Months by Institution: 2005-06 to 2007-08

  

 
2005-06 (%)
2006-07 (%)
2007-08 (%)


University of Abertay Dundee
49.3
45.8
35.7


The University of Dundee
70.9
72.8
68.5



  Notes:

  1. Data supplied by HESA.

  2. Underlying values are weighted to take account of non-response.

Justice

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the formula for allocating funds for criminal justice social work to local authorities.

Kenny MacAskill: As I said to the Justice Committee on 13 April, the Scottish Government will closely monitor increases in uptake of the planned new community payback order, and we will work with local authorities to assess funding needs.

Justice

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the specific grant allocations are for individual community justice authorities for 2010-11.

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the specific grant allocations for individual community justice authorities were for (a) 2009-10, (b) 2009-08, (c) 2008-07 and (d) 2007-06.

Kenny MacAskill: The specific criminal justice social work services grant allocations for individual community justice authorities (CJA) for financial years 2006-07 to 2009-10 inclusive are detailed in the following table. I have also included the related information for 2010-11 financial year as requested in S3W-33380 on 6 May 2010.

  

CJA
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11


Fife and Forth Valley
£10,038,544
£10,533,070
£11,041,312
£11,488,222
£12,458,101


Glasgow
£16,212,204
£17,679,033
£18,207,076
£18,691,686
£18,690,075


Lanarkshire
£9,288,739
£10,377,750
£11,010,785
£11,652,520
£12,224,353


Lothian and Borders
£12,331,892
£13,554,324
£14,654,012
£14,735,432
£14,329,446


Northern
£9,896,571
£12,014,540
£12,396,403
£12,442,792
£12,797,600


North Strathclyde
£8,757,650
£9,639,241
£10,378,631
£10,899,736
£11,135,700


South West Scotland
£7,177,907
£8,005,536
£8,891,028
£9,333,015
£9,938,891


Tayside
£7,624,314
£8,206,214
£8,269,479
£8,272,956
£8,476,194


Total
£81,327,821
£90,009,708
£94,848,726
£97,516,359
£100,050,360



  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Waste Management

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-32604 by Richard Lochhead on 14 April 2010, what the role of the Scottish Futures Trust is in the collection of data on local authority waste management infrastructure requirements.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) has no official role collecting data on local authority waste management infrastructure requirements. However, as a one off exercise in partnership with COSLA, SFT is collecting data to enable the public and private sector to have a clearer picture of the 32 local authority waste infrastructure plans to help meet both landfill diversion and recycling targets.